


Sun and Stars

by FlightlessEggsxo



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akiteru is mentioned, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety Attacks, Chromesthesia, Facts about space, Hinata is a nerd, Hinata's mom is mentioned, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, So is Natsu, So much angst, Synesthesia, Tsukishima's Parents mentioned, Yamaguchi's mom is also in this, parents fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 06:26:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6273346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlightlessEggsxo/pseuds/FlightlessEggsxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kei swears that it isn't a thing. But it's totally a thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sun and Stars

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lot of stuff in here and it is a LOT of angst. Beware.

It was most definitely _not a thing._ Kei would deny it to the ends of the earth that whatever this was happened on a regular basis even though it did. He wasn’t sure what it was, maybe it was the shocking difference from the daily appearance, or maybe the strange knowledge and facts that were revealed to him and only him that had him calling at strange times of night. Or perhaps it was the fact that no matter what time of night he called, the other always picked up the phone. 

Kei always called Shouyou when he couldn’t sleep at night. 

It had started at their second training camp when he had woken up to use the bathroom. Bleary eyed, he returned to the room but on his way back he caught the red head sneaking out. When the blonde had glanced at his phone on the way out of the room, he could have sworn it was close to midnight but now he was wondering if he was right or not. The redhead was always asleep at this time of night. Hinata didn’t seem to notice him as he walked quietly down the hallway and out of sight without a whisper of sound following him which was something Kei thought impossible before actually seeing it. 

The tall middle blocker shrugged to himself before walking back into the room, raising his hand to Suga who looked up at him as he passed. If the vice-captain had woken up at the mere sound of Kei stepping by then how had the obnoxious red head slipped by without waking the third year up? He had crawled back into his futon, fully intending to sleep but such a novelty seemed to evade him. 

Did Hinata have insomnia or something of the sort? Kei wasn’t well versed in sleeping disorders so it was the only thing he could come up with at the time though he wasn’t sure why he was still thinking about it. The blonde refused to toss and turn it wasn’t any of his business, plus he didn’t want to wake any of his teammates up, so he sat up with a soft but frustrated sigh and slipped his glasses on. His sweater came next before he even bothered to pull himself out of his futon once again. Suga didn’t stir this time around as he made his way out of the room and down the hallway. 

Kei’s next option was that the redhead was meeting up with someone. But who? Nekoma’s setter? If the setter was anything like Kuroo, which he was sure the entire team probably shared this similarity, then he enjoyed his sleep. Then maybe Bokuto since the two of them had started talking more? Though Kei highly doubted that Akaashi would let the Ace out of the room without parental supervision. The thought made the middle blocker snicker quietly but the sound was quick to die out. 

Hinata was sitting up on the grassy hill that they usually did their consequence runs on with his face turned up to the sky. Kei couldn’t see from his position but he was sure that the other boy was watching the stars with the wide eyed stare that he used to watch other fascinating things. Before he realized it, he was standing just behind the other and he froze when those eyes turned on him. 

The shorter boy’s usually liquid amber eyes now seemed to have an eerie, magical glow to them as he peered up at Kei with a curiosity that he didn’t voice. They continued to stare at each other until the blonde broke it with a rough sigh, moving to sit down next to Hinata while the other continued to watch him. Just as Kei was about to snap at him for staring, though, those glowing golden eyes turned back to the sky. 

“Did you know that the word astronaut comes from the Greek word _‘Astron’_ which means ‘star’, and _‘nautes’_ which means ‘sailor’?” The red head asks and Kei turns to him with furrowed brows because… What? Hinata just pulls his knees to his chest and hugs them tightly while offering no other explanation. There is a breeze that makes both boys shiver slightly but Hinata seems fine other than that and Kei wraps his arms around his stomach with a frown while tilting his head back to look at the stars. 

“The only difference for the Russian cosmonaut is that _‘kosmos’_ means ‘universe’,” he explains and the blonde resists the urge to ask why he is being told these things. Better yet how Hinata knows all of this. Or maybe why he is out here in the first place. Maybe he should start with that question. He wants to ask but a lump forms in his throat so he stays quiet and frowns to himself.

“I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a kid and when I told my mom she just laughed. I told her that I wanted to stand on the moon,” he went on to explain and Kei found his eyes turning to look at the other while he talked, watching the way his lips moved over the soft words. “She thought the entire thing was hilarious because it was the opposite of my name.”

Glowing eyes turned on him again and Kei felt his face flush at their intensity. The intensity that he had only seen a handful of times and only ever when playing volleyball. It was a bit unnerving to have that gaze directed at him but not entirely unwelcome if the fluttering in his stomach was anything to go by. After a long moment, Hinata turned away again and blinked up at the sky with a small smile pulling at his lips. Kei felt that this smile was private, something that was just for him to see. 

“I can laugh at it now when I’m telling you,” the boy whispered and again Kei’s face heated up. He knew where this was going and there were conflicting thoughts storming around in his brain. Did he actually want to hear the words the other was going to say or was it something that he never wanted to hear? It seemed like Hinata wasn’t going to give him a choice because the redhead stood up, offering that small and private smile to Kei with eyes that glowed with emotions that the blonde couldn’t decipher. “Because you’re my opposite.”

As Kei listened to the familiar ring, his eyes glanced at the clock. He still couldn’t help the guilt that gripped at him when he called Hinata at three o’clock in the morning when the other could be sleeping. Even when he knew that the redhead only survived on three, maybe four hours of sleep on a good day, he felt bad. There was a click and some shuffling and for a moment, the blonde thought that maybe it had gone to voicemail but then a soft voice came over the line.

_“Can’t sleep again?”_ Hinata asks with a fond tone and Kei can’t help the blush that warms his face. The calls had been getting more frequent as of late and with the higher of number of calls, the deeper the conversations got. Hinata knew that Kei was having nightmares because his parents were fighting regularly and Akiteru was avoiding coming home because of it. The blonde knew that Hinata never needed more than three hours of sleep because of some gene that made him not need sleep. It was absurd. 

“It sounded like one of them started breaking dishes again,” he explained in lieu of an answer. The redhead was quiet and Kei shifts on his bed, pulling his blankets up to his chin just so he can press his nose down into them with a huff. There are still tears burning at his eyes from the dark thoughts that the nightmares brought with that only the red head seemed to ease even though Kei would be hard pressed to admit such a thing.

_“When you’re in space, the lack of gravity takes pressure off of your spine which makes you grow roughly five centimeters taller,”_ Hinata murmurs and Kei lets himself smile. Nights like these, when he is woken up by the terrors of his dreams, the redhead will tell him space facts until Kei has fallen asleep once again. It was something special to the two of them, the taller of the two liked to think. Something that Hinata didn’t share with anyone else. Well, except for his sister because he knows that Natsu likes hearing about space as much as he does. That was one phone call Kei will never forget. 

_“Since there is no air in space, you can’t hear other people speak because air is needed to carry sound vibrations,”_ Shouyou continues and the blonde snorts quietly into his blanket. The sound makes Hinata laugh softly in return and the two boys laugh to each other for a long moment before finally calming themselves down.

“In other words, it would be a great place to send you and the King?” Kei sasses and grins as Hinata splutters though he tries to be quiet about it. That was one thing that surprised Kei when this thing started; Hinata was quiet. It had puzzled him at first so he had asked, over the phone so that the red head wasn’t able to see how red his face was when he finally managed to get his mouth around the words. The answer had been honest, simple, but it had left him breathless in a way he hadn’t expected. Mostly because Hinata took every chance to point out the fact that his name meant _‘moon’._

_“The moon is something to be treasured, worshipped. Being loud would ruin the prayers.”_

_“That’s not very nice, Kei,”_ he scolds and the blonde snickers again though it’s a fond sound. He can still hear Hinata grumbling on the other end of the line, murmuring about how he is older and should be treated as such. The moon is shining in his window so he turns to gaze up at it longingly while imaging what it would be like to be such an ethereal being that was worshipped across the world. What it would be like to be worshipped by Shouyou. The thought made him smile with mirth. Yamaguchi would tease him endlessly if he found out Kei was thinking about things like that.

“Hey, Shouyou?” Kei asks suddenly and the grumbling stops. The redhead hums at him and the blonde sits up, moving over to his desk and flipping the light on. His eyes blink against the harsh light but he still finds the small disk he is looking for and powers up his laptop while he sits down. 

“What colors do you see?” He asks and smiles when Hinata makes an exasperated sound. It’s obvious he is anything but. That was another surprise that Kei wasn’t expecting from the other. _Synesthesia._ It was a term he had been unfamiliar with at first but after a bunch of google searches he had essentially understood the basics of what it was. _Chromesthesia_ was a bit harder to understand but again, google helped out. It made sense with Hinata’s unique sense of things happening around him. Seeing the colors was probably easier than trying to filter through the sounds.

_“Well, I’ve got the fan on in my room, so there is light grays. Sort of like Suga’s hair, I guess,”_ he explains and Kei can hear the soft giggle which makes him smile. Had you told him when they first met that he would be smiling because of the stupid red head that had a hard time remembering math equations he would have punched you. In the face. 

_“There is a dog barking down the street and it’s really annoying. Like a gross yellow-green,”_ the laptop in front of him comes up to the log-in screen and he types in his password, definitely not anything to do with Hinata’s space facts (star sailors). A picture of the Karasuno team greets him and he smiles, rolling his eyes at Nishinoya’s and Tanaka’s faces while Daichi looks ready to murder them. The disk goes in and he listens to Hinata breathe while it loads. 

“Is Natsu talking in her sleep tonight?” He asks, realizing that he hasn’t said anything for a while. Most of their conversations are one-sided but he has been trying to keep up so that the red head doesn’t think that he fell asleep. That had happened once and he had been hung up on, only to have the other apologize profusely the next day when they found themselves alone in the club room. It had been interesting and embarrassing for both of them.

_“No, but I think mom left the radio on. I can’t tell what’s playing right now but it’s a fuchsia. Its way too bright for this time of night,”_ at the mention of the time, Kei glances at the clock and winces. _4:17_ greets him and he feels terrible, knowing that they both get up soon. The redhead never seems to mind, though, so he turns his eyes away and clicks to open the player on his screen. A little video menu pops up and he smiles at the showers of color that rain down in the background behind the options. 

Hinata had been so embarrassed to give this to him in person that he had opted to leave it in his gym bag instead. He had called Kei that night, before dinner, to explain that it was something he had Yachi help him make so that the blonde could understand Hinata’s colors better. It made Kei blush nine shades of red and stutter through a proper ‘thank you’ before promptly hanging up on the other so that he could go and watch it. 

It was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“What else do you hear, Shou?” Pressing play, Kei brought his laptop back to bed with him and situated himself underneath the blankets so that he was comfortable while he indulged himself. It wasn’t often that he asked Hinata about the colors but when he did it was mostly to hear the other talk about the colors of Kei’s voice which had an entire section in this mini movie. Hinata huffed a small laugh, voice knowing when he spoke again.

_“I hear you talking in my ear, Kei,”_ he murmured as he rustled around. Assuming he was getting comfortable, Kei skipped through parts of the video until he found the section he was looking for. It had puzzled him, the first time he watched it, when the screen suddenly went black. Until a moon and stars started to appear. Then the colors really started to dance. 

_“The colors of your voice at this time of night are always my favorite, Kei. Light blues and pretty silvers tell me that you’re still tired and probably lying in bed right now,”_ Hinata whispered and Kei felt himself shiver at the tone, eyes fighting to stay open. This was how things were between the two of them. Kei would call him at night, when he couldn’t sleep or he had nightmares, and talk until the redhead got that tone of voice that made the other shiver. It was a mere whisper, but it was deep like he had been screaming most of the day and was close to losing his voice. Something that only Kei had ever heard. Like the private smile.

_“The reds and golds of your voice dance together in a waltz, back and forth across the floor in the most beautiful ways. They spin and twirl together when we are on the court and mesmerize me with their flourishes,”_ comes next and Kei’s golden eyes watch the screen as those two colors spring up along with a bright song, twisting and twirling together. The first time he had watched this he wondered how Yachi had gotten this to work, but figured he didn’t need to know. As long as he understood this was how Hinata saw his voice that was all that mattered. 

_“When you are standing up for someone, your voice goes green like the sun shining through the trees. It starts out light but then, like a storm moving in, it turns dark like the color of a crocodile. One that is fine unless provoked,”_ Hinata had gotten better at explaining things, Kei mused as the greens took over the screen. The crocodile explanation was a new one but he figured that Hinata had been trying to figure out what color the dark green was. When he couldn’t figure out what a color was he got anxious, frustrated with himself. It was a difficult thing for Kei to watch. 

_“I like it when you talk about dinosaurs too. Your voice gets purple and red and looks like it flutters around like fairies. You might think that sounds stupid but it’s amazing, Kei. Really, you have no idea,”_ the whisper comes and Kei sighs. It’s a shaky sound and he feels tears burning his eyes again but he resists the urge to stop watching the screen. Resists the urge to look away from the brilliant violet bursts that dance across his laptop screen followed closely by the color of dragon fruit. It looks like the bursts are playing a game of tag and he smiles through the tears that drip down his face silently.

They are quiet and Kei is sure that Hinata can tell that he is crying now but he pauses the video because he knows what comes next. It’s the part that never fails to make his breath catch in his throat because it’s the colors that plague his heart on a regular basis, plague his mind when he hears the yelling. He wipes at his face before pressing it into his pillow, silently begging for the other boy to say something, say anything in the whisper voice that is his and his alone.

_“You know,”_ Hinata starts conversationally as if he is going to start talking about the weather. Kei manages to hum noncommittally because he is sure that is all he can manage with the tears that are soaking his pillow. _“I think I lied to you earlier when I told you that my favorite of your colors were the blues,”_ he says and there is some noise in the background. Suddenly he wishes that this conversation would go back to Hinata telling him about the muddy colors that his voice becomes when he cries. That is something he is used to, something he can bear to hear. This is unfamiliar territory and he isn’t sure what to say. 

_“My favorite colors are when you say my name in that tone of voice where you are teasing me but I know that you’re smiling. You’re still enjoying yourself and having fun. Your voice is different shades of red and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why,” _he says and Kei’s face heats up because he understands. This was something he knew, though he didn’t realize that he was showing it through his voice. He had wanted to hide it from Hinata for as long as possible. Apparently he had been found out.__

_“I searched and searched for the colors so I could explain them to you, Kei. You have no idea how difficult it was,”_ Hinata whispers, private, and Kei knows that he is smiling. Probably blushing and hiding his face as well. The thought warms the blonde’s face and manages to stop his tears from falling. _“Can you come over after practice this week? Maybe stay the night on Friday?”_ He asks and Kei startles, breath catching in his throat. Stay the night with Hinata? It wasn’t a secret that the two of them had gotten closer but to suddenly stay the night? 

“Yeah, sure,” he rushes out and the redhead huffs a laugh at the eager response. There is another voice in the background on Hinata’s end and Kei thinks that it sounds like his mother who Kei has never met.

Even though he has never met her, Hinata Chiaki sounded like one of the nicest people in the entire world. She seemed a bit intimidating in Kei’s opinion. 

_“Mom says good morning,”_ Hinata murmurs with a small sigh that the blonde has come to identify as a quiet version of his embarrassed laugh. He returns the sentiment and lies quiet while listening to the conversation happening at the Hinata house while his own house stays quiet. Briefly he wonders if his father will be home when he gets out of bed today or if he will be gone like he has been for the past three days. 

“Hey, Shouyou, I’m going to go for a run. I’ll talk to you at school,” Kei mumbles suddenly and sits up, pulling the neck of his shirt up and over his face to dry the rest of the tears away. As soon as his eyes are free of the material they squint through the darkness to make out the numbers of his clock. 5:06 greets him and he sighs, pushing his laptop closed. It was a rare thing for him to choose physical activity but lately it was the only thing he could do that kept him from thinking too much. That and talking to Hinata.

_“Mmm. Okay, see you later, Kei,”_ he agrees though the blonde knows that he is concerned. He doesn’t need the colors to know that. They hang up and Kei tosses his phone on his bed in favor of searching his closet for his workout clothes. Yamaguchi had made him a playlist when he found out that his best friend had started voluntarily working out. Maybe the freckled server thought that it would motivate him further but if anything it just filled the silence that running left him. 

After changing and brushing his teeth he hunted down his iPod which somehow ended up underneath his bed along with his headphones. His mother had yet to get up so a hastily written note explaining where he went got stuck to the fridge before he ran out the door. Running, Kei thought, was utterly pointless in reality. Sure it helped one stay in shape but other than that what did it do? Pass the time? He could study. Keep his mind off of things? He could talk to Hinata. In the end, after all the running he ended up doing, his legs felt like lead and he regretted it for the rest of the day. But he still got up and did it again the next morning. 

By the time he got back, he had just enough time to shower and change before he had to meet with Yamaguchi who laughed at his annoyed expression. The brunette had an orange that he had already peeled and some toast for his friend, which Kei thanked him for before shoving it in his mouth. They didn’t say much during their walk until the school was in sight.

“You forgot your headphones today, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi murmured softly, peering at him out of the corner of his eye. The blonde stopped, blinking dumbly for a moment before realizing that he did, in fact, forget his headphones. Thinking back they were probably still sitting on his desk where he always set them so that he wouldn’t forget them. Today was going to be a long day. 

“Shit,” he hissed, pushing his glasses onto his head while rubbing at his eyes, continuing to follow his friend into the school. They had yet to be greeted by Hinata and Kageyama, though, so the jury was still out on just how terrible his day was going to be. What Kei wasn’t expecting was for Hinata to be waiting by his shoe locker with a thoughtful look on his face. Yamaguchi shot him a knowing smile that he rolled his eyes at before he walked closer. Molten amber eyes looked up at him and his step faltered at the intensity of the stare he was receiving. It was that same intensity that Hinata showed when he played volleyball, that Kei had been showed only once before. 

He fought down the blush that wanted to work its way up his neck as he averted his eyes to his locker. Hinata seemed to get the idea, stepping back and out of the way so the taller boy could change. A group of girls walked by, giggling together about something and Hinata stayed quiet until they passed, eyes watching them walk by, before turning to Kei. The blonde just raised a brow at him in question while changing his shoes. 

“Good morning,” Hinata greeted and Kei resisted the urge to snort at the shorter boy. Sometimes he was something unpredictable, doing things randomly without any forethought, but other times he wore his heart on his sleeve and this time seemed to be one of the latter moments. 

“Morning, shrimp,” he greeted and smiled slightly as he watched the red head’s face turn roughly the same color as his hair. There was a snickering that he didn’t recognize from behind him and he turned around with cold eyes to see who was laughing. A small group of second year boys were watching their interaction and laughing. Kei knew without looking that Hinata was stiffening up, could only imagine the colors of their voices, while the blonde turned his body fully towards them with a lazy tilt of his head. Yamaguchi was walking around the corner behind him, a question coming out of his mouth but Kei was already walking forward until he was standing just a few steps away from the second years. 

“Something funny?” He asked in a bored tone, though it was obvious he was annoyed. The tallest one smirked up at him, glancing past him to Hinata which made Kei bristle in the most unexpected of ways. Someone was trying to get his attention but he couldn’t hear them over the sudden rushing of blood in his ears. 

“Yeah, it’s that cute little red head,” the guy explained with a leer. Kei clenched his hands at his sides and pulled chilling smirk on his lips with a small laugh. His stomach was in knots, heart pounding in his chest. The rush of adrenaline in his veins made him want to laugh but he just stepped closer until the second year looked back at him. 

“And what’s so funny about him, might I ask?” He asked, voice dropping a degree. The other second years took noticeable steps back while the leader narrowed his eyes at the obvious challenge. It was stupid, Kei knew, picking a fight over some stupid attempt at bullying the first years. But with his stress levels through the roof and working on no sleep, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to pick a fight. Which, contrary to popular belief, he never did.

“I was just imagining what his reactions would be when I decided to fuck him-“ Kei grabbed the boy by the collar of his jacket and slammed him against the wall, leaning in with narrowed eyes. There was shouting from behind him but he just pulled his lips back in a sneer. Something akin to pleasure spiked in his chest when the second year’s eyes widened in fear at the expression. He was sure that he was a sight to see, hands fisted in the boy’s collar while the other’s feet barely touched the ground because of their height difference.

“You ever even look his way again and it’ll be your last glance, understand?” He growled and the boy’s widened further but before he could respond, hands were pulling Kei back and he let himself be pulled away. The hands were large, too large to be Yamaguchi’s or Hinata’s so Kei wondered just whose they were but then Daichi was in his face and Asahi was speaking to him in low tones while dragging him down the side hallway. Though, for some reason, they seemed more concerned than angry. Then, as he pushed himself away from Asahi he understood why. There were tears pouring down his cheeks that he was sure started when he was pulled away, and he was gasping for air. 

His knees his the floor and he pressed a hand against the wall to ground himself. Panic attacks had plagued his childhood but had gotten rarer the older he got so this was an unfamiliar feeling at this age. His sight was starting to get fuzzy around the edges and everything around him sounded like it was under water until suddenly there were cool hands on his face. A voice, a song, working its way into his brain and calming his fraying nerves while lips brushed against his forehead. The bell rang overhead and startled him, his breathing spiking all over again at the thought of having to go to class but it settled as the voice continued to speak to him in low tones. 

He wasn’t sure how long had passed but by the time his tears dried, his breathing returned to normal, and his vision came back the hallways were empty save for four people. Takeda-sensei was speaking with Daichi who was nodding along seriously, arms crossed over his chest and flexing restlessly. Then, Kei turned his face away from the lips that had been murmuring against his cheeks to press his nose against the skin of his savior’s neck. Well, savior might be a little dramatic. Or be putting it too lightly considering how bad his panic attack had been.

Hinata just huffed a laugh at the action, one arm around Kei’s shoulders while his other hand played with the short blonde hair at the nape of his neck. It sent a shiver down his back that just made Hinata laugh more which drew Takeda-sensei’s and Daichi’s attention. When the other two turned to look at them, they smiled, seeming relieved that Kei had relaxed and was breathing normally again. Though they were a bit shocked at the nuzzling actions he was doing to Hinata’s neck and how familiar the two boys seemed with one another. 

“Tsukishima, Hinata, would the two of you mind following me up to the nurses office?” Both first years shared a look, Hinata obviously waiting for Kei to make the decision and when the blonde nodded, the red head agreed. They followed Takeda upstairs, listening to the teacher talk quietly with Daichi while they walked, still not saying anything. Though, Kei’s dark thoughts were broken by a small body bumping into his own. He looked down at Hinata who had his hands clasped behind his back, lips pursed, and eyes looking at the far wall as if trying to appear innocent. Huffing a small laugh, the taller of the two returned the gesture which made the red head smile brightly at him. 

“Would the two of you mind if I came in as well?” Daichi suddenly asked and both boys startled, jumping at the sound of their captains voice. The third year looked shocked for a moment before laughing lightly, hand pressed over his mouth to quiet his chuckles. Kei just scowled at his captain while Hinata pressed his hands against his face to try and hide his blush. As if that would work.

“That’s fine,” Kei mumbled and was rewarded with a harsh pat on the back that was more of a slap, leaving him wincing and rubbing at his shoulder. They all entered the empty nurse’s room, feeling the tension settle in. Hinata and Kei sat on one bed, Daichi on the bed next to them while Takeda pulled up a chair so that they could speak. There was a pregnant pause where no one spoke, deciding what to say, until Hinata broke it. 

“Is this about the fight?” He asked, voice small and shoulders pulling up to his ears. The blonde frowned at the sight. Hinata should never have that look on his face or sound like that, he decided as he bumped his arm against the shorter boy’s gently. Molten amber blinked up at him, widened with concern before softening with fondness.

“Not entirely,” Takeda answered with an easy-going smile. That was one of the things that Kei, begrudgingly, admired about the man. No matter the situation, he was able to remain calm and keep the situation under control no matter how scatter brained he seemed. Sometimes Takeda reminded him of Yamaguchi. “That is part of it, but we also have some other concerns, Tsukishima,” the teacher explained and Kei honestly knew that this was coming but it still made his hackles rise. 

“You’ve been distracted at practice and a bit more frigid with everyone,” Daichi takes over in his Captain Voice and Hinata straightens up where he is sitting. Kei resists the urge to laugh at the red head because he feels the need to do the same. Daichi is looking directly at Kei without breaking eye contact and the blonde wilts under the stare before breaking it with a sigh, hands curling into fists in his lap. He was never one to go down without a fight but this was one fight that he was actually willing to lose. 

“My parents have been fighting for a few months now. It’s to the point that they are breaking things when they argue. I don’t even know the last time I spoke to either of them,” he murmurs and can feel the sharp gaze that Takeda has on him. The only other person who knew the extent of what was going on was Hinata and the red head was simply sitting next to him, legs swinging back and forth like a child. When a smaller hand wraps around his own, though, he has to bite back the tears that are threatening to fall again.

“Akiteru won’t come home anymore, no matter how many times I ask him. He hasn’t even answered the past few times I’ve called him. Mom just sits around and drinks and I have no idea where Dad is most of the time,” he continues and grimaces when his voice breaks on his words. There is another tense moment when he is done speaking where he doesn’t dare look up but then the hand hold his squeezes and prompts him to do so. He takes a shaking breath that rattles in his chest before looking up and Daichi’s breath catches at the sight of the snarkiest person he has ever met with tears in his eyes. 

“Why did you wait so long to say something, Tsukishima?” He asks softly, not accusing him, just curious. Takeda still hasn’t said anything and it’s making Kei nervous but he refuses to acknowledge that fact. His eyes do slide over to the teacher though and he bites his lip when he sees the intense stare that is trained on his face. The answer to Daichi’s question is on the tip of his tongue but he can’t seem to force it out, past the lump in his throat. 

“What’ll happen now?” Hinata asks and Daichi turns surprised eyes to the red head who is serious for once. Well, serious in front of other people for once. Kei has seen him like this, quiet like this, before so it doesn’t surprise him anymore. Takeda sighs and all three boys turn to him. He has his eyes closed, arms crossed across his chest while he bites at his lips. It’s an annoying habit that Kei has tried to get Yamaguchi to break for years with no success. The teacher makes it obvious that he is trying to think of something to appease everyone involved but Kei knows that it isn’t something that is easily fixed. Best case scenario… well is there really a best case. Not that he can think of at least. 

Daichi looks on edge when Kei looks at him, though he is surprised to see the captain’s eyes on him. The brunette looks like he wants to say something, anything, to fix whatever is happening right now but there is nothing to say and Kei wants to tell him that. Wants to tell him that he doesn’t need to look to guilty, like all of this is his fault. That look was the reason he started to act out against his teammates. There was nothing for them to do to help, to fix it, so there was no point in explaining. 

Hinata is still a warm, grounding presence beside him and he leans against the other slightly while looking away from Daichi. The red head seems to understand the unspoken need for comfort, need for words because they all knew that Kei was terrible with them. The hand in his own moved so that their fingers were laced together. 

“As long as he is out of the house it isn’t a problem, right?” Hinata asks and three sets of eyes turn to him which would usually bug him but he seems to have an idea. Daichi looks at Kei with a question in his eyes and the blonde shakes his head minutely before turning back to his fellow first year. Takeda seems to understand what Hinata is talking about and Kei suddenly feels uneasy because… Since when did the idiot function on the same wavelength as one of the teachers? 

“You’re right, Hinata-kun! I can make the phone calls and arrange everything immediately. Things should be figured out by the end of practice today!” Takeda says quickly and the red head jumps off of the bed, startling Kei and Daichi. Molten amber turns on the blonde and he immediately flushes at the intensity. ‘Twice in one day,’ he thinks briefly before he is being shaken roughly. 

“Do you understand, Kei?” Hinata says excitedly, though the look in his eyes hasn’t left and the difference is making him wary of the warring emotions inside the smaller body in front of him. This happened occasionally, he understood, but they were usually on the phone and he only listened when Hinata explained it. So this was a first. He wrapped his hands around the pale wrists to pull the small hands off of his shoulders before he could get whiplash. 

“No, Shouyou, I don’t understand. Your weird cryptic conversation with Takeda-sensei made absolutely no sense to me,” he grumbles and the red head rolls his eyes while his shoulders slump. Daichi seems just as confused as Kei does, shaking his head with the sudden mood changes but the blonde ignores him in favor of watching as Hinata brightens up again. His face is suddenly mere centimeters from Kei’s and the blonde’s eyes widen but he doesn’t dare move from his position. Hinata was an animal, always on the lookout for new prey; his eyes reminded Kei of a lion and right now the blonde was his newest piece of meat. 

“As long as you aren’t living in that situation, you can keep going to school here. So that means…” his voice trailed off, letting Kei figure the rest of the story. It took a moment but when he connected the dots he couldn’t help but groan. Of course this idiot would come up with something like that. 

“I can’t believe of all the idiotic things…” 

Practice ended with a lot of shouting and ‘awing’ because Yamaguchi’s mother, who happily agreed to take Kei in, met both boys at the gym. When the blonde got into arm’s reach, she had grabbed onto him and pulled him into the tightest hug he had ever had the displeasure (he secretly loved it) of receiving. He could hear Tanaka and Nishinoya making obnoxious noises in the background but he didn’t blush until he caught Hinata’s eye. The red head was giving him that private little smile and had that fond look in his molten eyes and Kei’s mind eagerly supplied the whiskey whisper from their late night phone calls. 

He averted his eyes, not noticing the fact that Suga noticed the interaction between the first years. Yamaguchi had laughed at him, mistaking the blush for embarrassment. When he was finally released, Yamaguchi-san explained that she had already spoken to Kei’s mother and that they could go and pick his things up whenever he wanted but she already had a small bag of clothing packed for him. Daichi stepped up then, introducing himself, before telling Kei that the team would help if he wanted. 

It was overwhelming and for one very long mortifying moment he thought he was going to cry, but the feeling was pushed away as he looked at his teammates. These loud, smelly teenage boys had somehow wormed their way into his frozen heart and made it their home. Made him part of their family and he felt his heart beating painfully fast in his chest. Daichi seemed to mistake his hesitation for a rejection and was about to say something but then there was a warm hand on his back and he turned to Hinata who was smiling brightly up at him. 

“If it’s alright with Yamaguchi-san we could do it this on Saturday after practice,” the red head said and Kei blinked at him before nodding slowly. There was suddenly another hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Suga smiling at him sweetly though there was a wicked gleam in his eyes that made Kei draw his shoulders up. 

“Or we could do it today!” He offered and the blonde opened his mouth to reject the suggestion but then Yamaguchi-san agreed, cheering loudly. Yamaguchi, ‘Tadashi’ Kei’s mind supplied helpfully since they would be living together, grinned and the blonde frowned at his friend before huffing petulantly. 

“Fine. Whatever.”


End file.
